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Patter   /pˈætər/   Listen
noun
Patter  n.  
1.
A quick succession of slight sounds; as, the patter of rain; the patter of little feet.
2.
Glib and rapid speech; a voluble harangue.
3.
The cant of a class; patois; as, thieves's patter; gypsies' patter.
4.
The language or oratory of a street peddler, conjurer, or the like, hence, glib talk; a voluble harangue; mere talk; chatter; also, specif., rapid speech, esp. as sometimes introduced in songs. (Cant or Colloq.)


verb
Patter  v. t.  
1.
To spatter; to sprinkle. (R.) "And patter the water about the boat."
2.
To mutter; as prayers. "(The hooded clouds) patter their doleful prayers."
To patter flash, to talk in thieves' cant. (Slang)


Patter  v. i.  (past & past part. pattered; pres. part. pattering)  
1.
To strike with a quick succession of slight, sharp sounds; as, pattering rain or hail; pattering feet. "The stealing shower is scarce to patter heard."
2.
To mutter; to mumble; as, to patter with the lips.
3.
To talk glibly; to chatter; to harangue. (Colloq.) "I've gone out and pattered to get money."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Patter" Quotes from Famous Books



... when she woke the next morning, Lydia half hoped that the soft patter against her window was of rain drops. But it was the wind-tossed maple leaves, whose scarlet and gold were drifting deep on the lawn and garden. There never was a more brilliant October day than this, and at three ...
— Lydia of the Pines • Honore Willsie Morrow
... embarked on the gunboat, the "Mukhbir," for Moilah, which they reached on December 19th. Burton landed with studied ceremony, his invariable plan when in the midst of savage or semi-civilised people. The gunboat saluted, the fort answered with a rattle and patter of musketry. All the notables drew up in line on the shore. To the left stood the civilians in tulip-coloured garb, next were the garrison, a dozen Bashi-Bazouks armed with matchlocks, then came Burton's quarry men; and lastly the ...
— The Life of Sir Richard Burton • Thomas Wright
... care a twopenny curse for art or for the public. She and her lot want any money that is floating loose and the whole social game in London has become a three-card trick in their hands. The theatre and newspapers are just the sharper's patter.' ...
— Mummery - A Tale of Three Idealists • Gilbert Cannan
... the desert could be seen beyond the palms. There seemed to be no guests in the hotel. The verandah was deserted, and the peace of the soft evening was profound. Against the white parapet a small, round table and a cane armchair had been placed. A subdued patter of feet in slippers came up the stairway, and an Arab servant appeared with a tea-tray. He put it down on the table with the precise deftness which Domini had already observed in the Arabs at Robertville, and swiftly vanished. She sat down in the chair ...
— The Garden Of Allah • Robert Hichens
... a grimace. "I learned a bit from the old man when I was a youngster, but it's more by way of patter than anything else. A fellow's only to ramble on, get the money, and make off before they've time to look at the things. It's none so bad, and the police can't touch you ...
— Ditte: Girl Alive! • Martin Andersen Nexo


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